Guess Who is Supporting the 2nd Trump Travel Ban?

President Trump has been receiving a lot of support from unlikely sources lately. It’s needed too, as the new AHCA bill is struggling to gain positive traction. Also, his newest executive order that calls for a temporary travel restrictions from certain countries has received harsh criticism. However, there are a few outsiders that have come to Trump’s side in support of his endeavors.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has always been in opposition of all things Trump. However, upon viewing the president’s current uphill battle to get his executive order put into action, Graham seems to have had a change of heart.

On Thursday, Sen. Graham was asked about the president’s appeal to a decision made by two U.S. District Court Judges in Hawaii and Maryland to place a nationwide block on the executive order. “With all due respect to the judges involved, I believe the new executive order — requiring more vetting and limiting visas from at-risk nations — will prevail on appeal,” Graham said. “It’s not a Muslim ban.”

The order calls for a temporary restriction on those traveling to the United States from six Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East: Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan. The order also calls for a 120-day halt of the entire United States refugee program. This was ordered so government officials can dissect the vetting procedures of these six countries to ensure safety for all citizens involved.

Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson, ruled in favor of the state of Hawaii in a case brought up against the order. Watson said the new order was merely a reflection of the first and did not “pass legal muster” in its current state.

The same day, another judge in Maryland, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, made the same ruling. Chuang claimed the only difference between the two orders was the omission of Iraq from the list of the restricted countries. Iraq made a pact with the U.S. government to implement any requests made to strengthen the country’s vetting process for travel visas. That prompted the Trump administration to remove the country from the revised list. Chuang claims there is still grounds for religious discrimination in the new order.

Both Watson and Chuang also used statements made by President Trump and one of his senior advisers, Stephen Miller, to support their decisions.

Trump made a statement in an interview in which he said, “We can’t allow people coming into this country who have this hatred of the United States.” Chuang cited “religious animus,” and said Trump was inciting religious discrimination with his choice of words.

When asked about the difference between the two orders during an interview, Miller said to Fox News, “Fundamentally, you’re still going to have the same basic policy outcome for the country.” This supported Watson and Chuang’s rulings regarding the lack of change from the first order to the second.

After the decisions were announced, Trump wasted no time planning his next move. During a rally in Nashville the same evening, he was verbal about his objection to the courts. “A judge has just blocked our executive order on travel and refugees coming into our country from certain countries,” he said. “The order blocked was a watered-down version of the first order. This ruling makes us look weak, which we no longer are.”

After speaking his mind about the judges and their rulings, Trump vowed to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court if he needed to.

Another big difference between the first order, which was also halted by two federal judges, and the newer one is the amount of support Trump is getting from the GOP.

Sen. Graham isn’t the only critic of the original order to reassure the public that the new order is much better. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), said the revised edition “addresses some of the concerns I had with the original ban.” This included the removal of an “ill-conceived religious test” that would have signaled a preference for refugee applications from Christians residing in majority-Muslim countries.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) also endorsed the new order. “This revised executive order advances our shared goal of protecting the homeland,” said Ryan, who also criticized the rollout of Trump’s initial travel ban. “I commend the administration and Secretary Kelly in particular for their hard work on this measure to improve our vetting standards.”

This is in large contrast to the Democratic reaction to the new order. “A watered-down ban is still a ban,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement. “Despite the administration’s changes, this dangerous executive order makes us less safe, not more, it is mean-spirited, and un-American.”

Five judges in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, all of which were appointed by Republicans, have also come out in support of the president’s executive order. The judges had hoped for the Trump administration to file an appeal so that they could try and reverse the decision made by Watson.

“Whatever we, as individuals, may feel about the President or the Executive Order, the President’s decision was well within the powers of the presidency,” the judges stated in a join statement.

Whatever President Trump decides to do in response to having his second executive order of this kind shot down by federal courts, he seems to have a well-established team behind him. Those who criticized his first order, but now support his second, have come to see that any personal feelings don’t belong in government decisions. It’s about national security, and that is on the top of the Trump administration’s priority list right now.

With Sen. Graham and others choosing to back Trump, maybe we will finally see the GOP come together on a decision that affects the people. That means putting on a brave face and leaving their emotions at home.

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